PRIVACY & COMPLAINT POLICY
The Energy Manager Privacy Policy - Effective as of 25 May 2018
Your privacy and the security of your data is, and will always be, enormously important to us. So, we want to transparently explain how and why we gather, store, share and use your personal data.
The aim of this Policy is to:
1. Ensure that you understand what data we collect about you, the reasons why we collect and use it, and who we share it with.
2. Explain your rights and choices in relation to the data we collect and process about you and how we will protect your privacy.
General Data Protection Regulation or "GDPR" gives certain rights to individuals in relation to their personal data.
Right of Access - the right to be informed of and request access to the personal data we process about you;
Right to Rectification - the right to request that we amend or update your personal data where it is inaccurate or incomplete;
Right to Erasure - the right to request that we delete your personal data;
Right to Restrict - the right to request that we temporarily or permanently stop processing all or some of your personal data;
Right to Object -
the right, at any time, to object to us processing your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation;
the right to object to your personal data being processed for direct marketing purposes;
Right to Data Portability - the right to request a copy of your personal data in electronic format and the right to transmit that personal data for use in another party’s service.
Collecting data
We collect your data in the following ways:
1. From you. When you request The Energy Manager to act on your behalf regarding your utilities, we will ask you information about your business, contact details and utilities. Where you are a sole trader, this may be your personal details such as your name, home address and date of birth. We will ask you to sign a letter of authority in order to act on your behalf.
2. From third parties - we will receive data about your business utility usage from your current suppliers. We will use this only to give you reports, if that is part of the service which we have agreed to provide for you, to understand your usage and situation in order to make recommendations and to enable a market search for a new contract on your behalf or resolve a query or issue.
Sharing data
We will only share your information with relevant suppliers for the purposes of procuring, managing and switching your utilities. For example, by sharing meter details, usage and time of day information for the purposes of getting an accurate quote. You agree to us obtaining and sharing this information by signing the letter of authority on the engagement of our services.
We will not share your information or data with any other companies. We will not sell your data under any circumstances.
Data retention and deletion
We keep your data only as long as necessary to provide you with and for legitimate and essential business purposes. We keep your data for as long as you are a user of our services and for the duration of the contracts we have arranged on your behalf. If you request, we will delete your data from our records. This will mean that we will no longer be able to act on your behalf. If at anytime you want to see the information we hold on you and your utility usage, then please contact us and we will provide it.
Keeping your personal data safe
We are committed to protecting our customer’s data. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to help protect the security of your data; however, please note that no system is ever completely secure. We have implemented various policies to guard against unauthorised access and unnecessary retention of personal data in our systems.
Changes to this Privacy Policy & questions
We may occasionally make changes to this Policy, which will be updated on our website.
If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us by using the ‘Contact Us’ form, emailing us at info@theenergymanager.co.uk or by writing to us at the following address:
The Energy Manager, The Old Library, 44 High Street, Malmesbury, Wiltshire. SN16 9AT.
Complaint Policy
As part of our commitment to quality, we have a structured complaints process for all our microbusiness customers, to ensure that all our customers are treated fairly, with courtesy and respect.
A microbusiness customer is defined as a business which:
· employ fewer than 10 employees (or their full time equivalent) and has an annual turnover or balance
sheet no greater than €2 million; or
· uses no more than 100,000 kWh of electricity per year: or
· uses no more than 293,000 kWh of gas per year.
Our complaints policy can be accessed on our website (www.theenergymanager.co.uk) or you can request a copy to be sent by email or by post free of charge.
Querying your contract
If you feel that any of the information that we have submitted to a supplier on your behalf is inaccurate, or feel that you did not agree to any aspect of the agreement, we ask that you contact the person who advised you in the first instance. This is primarily so that you are speaking with the person who has the best understanding of your supplies and has an audit history of communications to hand. We will do our utmost to resolve your query right away.
Raising a complaint
If you are unhappy with the handling of your query and would like to escalate to the next stage, please email info@theenergymanager.co.uk stating:
• Your name.
• Your business name.
• Your address (the address of the premises that the contract has been arranged for).
• The nature of your query.
• The best number to contact you on and the best time to speak with you.
Alternatively, you can call us on 01666 822855 and request a call back. We will respond to your request within 2 working days and take further details of your enquiry. Or you can write to us at:
The Energy Manager
The Old Library
44 High Street
Malmesbury
SN16 9AT
All details of your complaint be recorded, including the date the complaint was received and details of when you were updated.
Investigating Your Complaint
Upon receipt of your escalated complaint, we will review all communications between you and the advisor in question. We will work with you to understand what has gone wrong and what is needed to put things right. An initial response will be carried out within 5 working days of the complaint being raised and we will keep youregularly updated with progress.
Resolving Your Complaint
If your complaint is upheld, we will inform you both verbally and in writing. We will apologise for any errors made and highlight any further action to be taken to prevent further occurrences. We will provide you with an explanation of what has gone wrong and what we are doing to put things right; this may include offering a goodwillgesture or providing compensation.
If your complaint is not upheld, we will outline why this is the case and provide you with the evidence we have gathered supporting this decision. The outcome of our investigation will be provided to you both verbally and in writing.
Independent help & advice
Ombudsman Services – Energy – effective from 1st December 2022
If your complaint has not been resolved within 8 weeks or we are unable to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, you will be able to raise a dispute with Ombudsman Services from 1st December 2022.
Ombudsman Services provide an independent and impartial Alternative Dispute Resolution service that is free for you to use
You may contact the Ombudsman in any of the following ways:
Website: www.ombudsman-services.org
Phone: 0330 440 1624
Email: enquiry@ombudsman-services.org
Post: Ombudsman Services: Energy, P.O. Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF
Alternatively, you can raise your complaint directly with the supplier concerned, informing them that you have attempted to resolve the complaint with us in the firstinstance.
Please be aware the Ombudsman Service is only available to Microbusinesses. If you are not a Microbusiness and you have a complaint, please raise your issue to us as described above. We will of course give it the same care and attention as any complaint we may receive.